Are you an opportunist or an opportunity 'utilizer'?

While introducing me to a gathering of young and aspiring managers, the speaker said: “He used the opportunities before him so well in his life and that is the secret of his success. One needs to be an ‘opportunist’ like him”. The first sentence amused me and the second one bewildered me. Knowing the ‘language proficiency’ of the speaker, I understood what he really meant! But the word opportunist lingered in my mind during the entire session and I pondered over it to comprehend how important it is for a person to be an opportunist in this world to be successful.

The word opportunist has a very negative connotation. The MS Word has a stock of synonyms: Freebooter, Speculator, Buccaneer, Swashbuckler, Chancer, Carpetbagger, Fortune hunter etc. There is only one positive meaning given there. That is ‘entrepreneur’.

An opportunist grabs an opportunity aggressively. He is ready to snatch it from other potential competitors. In its negative sense, the person uses all possible means, including unethical ways, to get what he wanted. They become unpopular and their greediness will not have any end.

But in its positive sense, an opportunist is a person who is an opportunity user or 'utilizer'. This is a better term than opportunity seeker. He is always alert to discover the ways and means that can take him closer to his goals. For this purpose, he does not bypass someone deliberately. He does not thwart someone’s effort to reach the same goal as his. He explores the ways that can facilitate a quicker movement towards fulfilling his goals. He looks around and finds that life has given diverse opportunities in a platter for him to excel.

Our creator is just and there are enough ways open before every human being irrespective his ascribed status or current circumstances provided there is a will to pursue that.  The strides in the pursuit of utilizing the opportunities are small, simple and easily replicable. In this article let me focus on one of the many stepping stones. That is the utilization of our time.

When we travel in a nonstop vehicle called time, we encounter several opportunities on our way. It is our decision to take the vehicle through the best or worst opportunities that determines our comfortable early arrival at the chosen destination. The vehicle runs automatically in a constant pace for everyone in the world whether he is a Prime Minister, fastest sprinter, or a farmer in a remote village. But it is we who drive the vehicle of time decide on its course.

I practice successfully for many years a process called ‘time audit’ every night before going to sleep. The audit starts with an exhaustive recall of the moments of that day and what I did in those minutes.  I evaluate how much of the available time I was creative, how much of the time I was re-creative and how much of the time I simply wasted. One could categorize them as creative, re-creative, and destructive.

Examples of creative use of time could be a) helping someone, b) applying creativity in work and producing something new, c) completion of a long pending domestic work, d) setting in order the cluttered stuff in the virtual and real realms, e) writing an article, f) reading a book, watching a high quality program or a movie that motivates us to be creative, g) doing physical exercise properly, h) going for a refreshing walk with your partner or family etc. Even taking a short afternoon nap (some people call it power nap) after many hours of creative work can also be a creative activity as that would revitalize the body and mind. A creative person spends most part of his time on similar activities as described above.

Examples of re-creative activity includes enjoying entertainment programs created or presented by others, long activity sessions in social networking sites and instant messengers, watching live or recorded matches etc. These are not creative utilization of time unless we derive any skill, knowledge or experience or gain a positive attitude from the above activities or such activities soothe our mind and make us enthusiastic to do creative work. A creative person spends less time on the above.

There are many examples of what we can call ‘destructive’ activity. (The word destructive is used here in comparison to the word creativity.) The first and foremost one is the activity of listening or sharing gossips or negative comments about someone else. Spending considerable time with toxic people- those who are cynical, sarcastic, pessimistic and cunning would be destructive. Lazy, lethargic and laidback attitudes and consequent behavioral patterns would convert us to perennial deadbeats. Such type of people indulge in long sleep (also extended hours of day nap), unnecessary and aimless wandering, repeated indulgence (like watching the same movie or match again and again, continuous parties without a break, attending events or functions that do not require the presence etc.)

One should devise his or her own strategies to spend more time for creative activity, less time on re-creative activity and least time on ‘destructive’ activity. After every creative work, you will find that your batteries are recharged faster and you enjoy more peace and happiness. You will instantly carry a positive vibe and the confidence and satisfaction you gain from a creative activity would result in better behaviour with people around you. On the contrary, after spending too much time on a re-creating or ‘destructive’ activity you will feel guilty and your behavior with others become petty and less impressive.

                                             Image: www.lifestylefancy.com

We should try to utilize the time even when we are on the move. I catch up with my reading and writing work while travelling in a train or flight. If the official travel during the day is to a destination that can be reached in less than six hours, I opt to travel by train rather than flight. I always felt that I am more creative in a moving train as my thoughts take a comfortable pace along with the train. Most of my articles are the products of train journeys and long waits at the airport lounges (this article is an example!). I avoid sleeping during the day time travel. I used to see some people sleeping during the entire travel. What a waste of time! They could pick up a few books, magazines or a reader device like kindle and read rather than wasting time in sleep. Even watching a good movie in the laptop during the train journey or spending time in prayer or meditation would be better utilization of time during a day-time train journey rather than sleeping all along.

Mobile phones are ubiquitous now and people can’t live without it. People spend substantial amount of time on the smartphones. One needs to evaluate how much of that time is used for unproductive purposes. Apart from using the internet in smartphones just for messaging and social networking, one could engage in creative reading, writing and planning even when we wait at salon, restaurant, clinic or transport stations. But that should be done only when we finish with enjoying the nature and surroundings and interacting with people around us. We should not become an inanimate object wired to the smart devices with scant regard to whatever happening around us.

More on other stepping stones later!

                                                               © Sibichen K Mathew

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Stop this harassment! A cry for deschooling India

My daughter has never been in the list of toppers in her class. As any middle class parent, my wife and I  tried all strategies on her: Inspirational stories of great people, our own educational adventures with exaggeration, ghastly stories of students who failed to get good marks in public examinations, paper cuttings of achievers pasted all around inside the house, and many more. Our anxiety even led us to tell her about the plight of our maid since she didn't study well in her school. To this, my daughter just laughed. None of these tactics worked so far. She continued to be where she could as per her capacity, interest and inclination.

She is put in a Public School next to the apartment complex where we stay. That has made our life easy since we could go and see the Vice Principal whenever she calls us, mostly after every unit test. As we both wait in the reception of the school like ‘guilty parents’ waiting for the judgment, there is a little solace; the sight of many such couples sitting there, without uttering a word between them or between the couples. Not even a smile was exchanged! All prefer to be busy tracking their office work through SMS. When we are called, we go and sit before the vice principal or the class teacher just like students who are caught for not doing their homework. As we sit on the chair leaning forward attentively, we could hear the heart beats of each other. I have never seen my wife sitting so obediently anywhere. 

After perusing the big file filled with my daughter’s answer sheets, assignments, etc., when the vice principal says, ‘I see a lot of improvement in your daughter’s performance’, we both take a normal breath instantly. But the vice principal continues: ‘But this is not at all enough!’  He will give very sincere suggestions for improvement and we hear and accept every word. We are amazed at the personal supervision on each student and the commitment of the teachers and the vice principal. We assure him that all efforts will be taken by us to ensure more marks for the next test and leave the place thanking him. Once out, we both discuss the issues at length and take important resolutions. The resolutions are the same always: a) Don’t send her for basket ball b) Allow outdoor play only on weekends c) Make her adhere to the home time table d) Exclude her whenever we go for any family functions, dine-outs and so on. 

(Favole13.deviantart.com)

Killing the creativity

My daughter is passionate about her basket ball coaching. We stopped it and she cried. She is a good athlete. We restricted her outdoor play. She likes to watch TV programs. We curtailed her TV watching timings. She wants to play and chat with her cousins and friends. We curbed that. She loves to go for tours to the houses of our relatives and spent time with them. We reduced our outstation trips. All these restrictions were enforced not because we were convinced of these. We never wanted her to be insulted and ignored by her teachers in the school because of not meeting their expectations in her academic performance. As educated parents, we knew that all these restrictions are futile and would only kill her creativity further. But the schools think that all students in a class are of same competence and all are expected to get high grades. (If you don't like, remove your child to another school!)

Except for our unhappiness because of our fear of reprimands, threats, and dissatisfaction of school authorities, we are extremely delighted with her overall performance and behaviour. She had very emotional and social quotient, very empathetic to others, loving, and has a lot of leadership qualities and social skills. She never utters anything negative about anyone. But we are really destroying her beautiful childhood. The academic pressure from the school, the competitive environment, our own apprehensions about securing a career that would give her financial independence: all these force us to put up the mask of ferocious tigers at home. It is like a battlefield at home in the evenings. I tell my wife, when will we sit and watch a comedy movie all together in front of the TV and laugh until our belly hurts? 

Stuffing everything under the sun

I have started hating the Indian Schooling system that is hell bent on stuffing everything under the sun which they call ‘knowledge’ on the hapless students. Forget about my school Chemistry, I don’t remember anything even of my college Chemistry syllabus. When the Class VIII student seeks help from her father who is a Chemistry graduate to decipher the composition of aromatic compounds, he tries hard to remember what he learnt for several years. Other than a vague memory of Benzene and double bond, nothing else has been retained. How much of what we have studied during the school and college days do we remember now? How much of what we have studied have been useful or found essential, directly or indirectly to lead our life?

Ivan Illich in his book ‘Deschooling  Society’ elaborated upon the absurdity of schooling. According to Illich, the compulsory school education system is aimed at making a society that is consumerist, packaged, institutionalized, and impoverished.

Teachers are policemen in the current Indian schooling system and parents are military officials. Both work hand in hand with the same common objective of making children study. All students are made to slog promising a goal that is impossible for the majority to attain. Even the poor are coerced to learn by giving a false hope that there are secured seats to pursue courses that make them doctors and engineers. Today’s compulsory public school system for all children, indeed gives false promises to the children and ultimately don’t give them further opportunities in higher education. The school uniform, the tie, and the ‘English’ manners and demeanours taught to them become meaningless while they end up as labourers, house maids, etc.

Nurturing de-socialization and personality deformation

Earlier, Socialization and all round development of personality were considered as the main aims of schooling. Now, what is happening is de-socialization and personality deformation. Today, school education is like fast food. It doesn’t facilitate creativity. In the name of creativity, teachers give projects that can be completed only by replicating what is in the web, or by taking substantial help from the parents.  Childhood is the time for children to play and learn from nature and society. This is the age and stage of life when they should ideally spend more of their time with parents, grandparents and relatives, not to hear their yelling, but to hear from them about their life.

  

The need to de-institutionalize higher education

Learning is actually a lifelong process. It can never be forced on oneself through an institutional process. Isn't it a waste of time if a person studied for 5 years for engineering and another 2 to 3 years for Post-Graduation and then get into a job where he would use just a very small specialized portion of the course? Instead, he could have joined as an apprentice in the area he was interested and he could sharpen his skills later as the job required. He could become an expert in that field much early and save several years which he would have otherwise devoted to class room learning. These courses are deliberately made lengthy just to maintain and expand the business of education and to provide teaching jobs to people with no net productive gain for the economy. It is high time employers test the candidate’s skill for a job rather than selecting him on the basis of the degrees he has earned. We can find even in premier institutes like IIMs and IITs, professors with PhDs and hundreds of research publications, yet with very poor teaching skills!

Let me conclude.  I need to quickly get back to yell at my daughter to push her to the study table. 

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